The Locket
by CanzetYote
Summary: Iggy Arbuckle. When Spiff has his annual day off and an old friend of his shows up in Mooseknuckle, can Iggy and Jiggers uncover the tragic past of their secretive skunk friend?
1. The Day Off

**NOTE:** _This is my very first Iggy Arbuckle fic. I've only seen the few episodes that used to be on the National Geographic website. Recently, I ordered the first 2 DVDs off of Amazon and they'll arrive in the mail in about a week or two. Since I'm fairly new to the cartoon, I've gotten help reading the Iggy Arbuckle wiki and Tvtropes to help me get a better feel for the characters since watching episodes on Youtube costs money. I may or may not put this fanfic on a long hiatus because I need to actually watch some episodes to get a feel for the characters better. Anyway, read and review. Enjoy!_

The hot sun beat down on the grassy landscape of the Kookamunga in the midst of a burning summer. Iggy and Jiggers sat inside of Zoop's cafe and the air conditioner was going full blast. It was a usual day and they were expecting Spiff was about to enter the door any second. It was his usual routine.

Zoop groaned to herself, "Pretty soon, you-know-who will be coming in with that usual attitude of his."

Iggy turned to Zoop, "Who, Catfish Stu?"

Zoop rolled her soft blue eyes, "You know exactly who I mean, Iggy."

Jiggers raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong with Spiff? He's just another customer. You don't have to chit chat with him if you don't want to."

Zoop groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Maybe it's just his aura...Stu may be a money-grubbing jerk but at least he's normally in a good mood."

About half an hour passed and no sign of Spiff. Jiggers turned his attention to a nearby calendar on the wall with crossed out days, "Hey um...isn't today July 7th?"

Iggy blinked, "Yes...it is."

Jiggers sighed and hung his head, "Isn't today...Spiff's annual day off?"

Zoop nodded, "Jiggers is right, Spiff always takes a break from cleaning trash on July 7th. I guess the date means something personal to him. I asked him about July 7th the other day and all he did was grumble."

Iggy grinned as he whipped a magnifying glass out of his pocket, "Well, it looks like it's up to detective Iggy to crack this case."

Jiggers raised an eyebrow, "Do you always keep that magnifying glass on you?"

Iggy shrugged, "You never know when you'll find a rare specimen."

Zoop rolled her eyes, "To be honest, I think its best we leave Spiff alone. When he wants his alone time, give him his alone time. He gets extra cranky when he doesn't have time to recharge."

Iggy turned to Zoop, "Would you happen to know why Spiff acts like this on July 7th?"

Zoop shook her head, "I have no idea. Spiff is very private and doesn't share a lot of personal information with anyone. There's a new guy around here who claims that he knows Spiff but he looks kind of mangy and transient so he could be delusional. He's a coyote and introduced himself to me the other day as Scrap. Said he used to work as a mechanic. His aura felt very gray and depressing, like a rainy day. When he came in, Spiff came in not long after, gave him a death glare and walked out of the cafe without a word."

"Spiff can't stand to be in the same room as this guy?" Jiggers asked.

Zoop nodded, "Spiff has always hated the homeless, mainly cause they leave beer bottles all over the place but the way Spiff glared at him told me he had something personal against him."

Iggy turned to Zoop, "Do you know where this Scrap lives?"

"He said he lives in a motor home just a little bit north of here." Zoop repiled, "I'm not sure if he's a credible source of information or not. Like I said, I just met him last week."

Iggy nodded, "Thanks for telling us, Zoop. But why don't you want to talk with him yourself?"

Zoop groaned and rested her head on the counter, "Because I have my shift and besides, I don't want to create more bad karma between Spiff and I by talking with this so-called friend of his."

Jiggers raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think Spiff would find out?"

"Spiff may have a temper but he's very smart and observant. He could also smell coyote on me if I talked with Scrap about him." Zoop replied, "Poor Scrap, he looked so down on his luck. I would've given him a hug if he wasn't so covered in mange."

"Do you want us to talk to Scrap?" Iggy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Zoop sighed softly, "Do whatever you feel like with Scrap. Just leave me out of this. It's none of my business if Spiff has an old nemesis or friend to deal with. For once, I'd like to have a little peace and quiet around this store."

Iggy nodded, "All right, Zoop. We'll talk to you later. Thanks for the info."

The pig and beaver waved goodbye to Zoop as they left her store.

Meanwhile, Spiff was in his den, dusting off the shelves of a bookcase. He reached his paw up and pulled a large white binder with silver cursive letters on the front that said "Wedding Photos". Breathing a deep sigh, the skunk opened up the book and began flipping through pages. Each page contained a few photos of him and his wife Kassie. Eventually, he came across a funny wedding picture of him in drag in the wedding dress and his beautiful wife Kassie in a tuxedo. Kassie was a tall, attractive skunk with stunning green eyes and a slender build.

Spiff couldn't help but smile at the memories as his eyes misted over with bittersweet tears, "Kassie..."

The skunk turned the page and saw a manila folder in the middle of the wedding album labelled "Baby Carl". Upon turning the page, he once again stared at the empty, pictureless section of the album.

Tears trailed down Spiff's face as a sob escaped his throat. Angrily, he used his big bushy tail to whip the tears from his eyes, "It can't be true because the two of you are still here with me...Kassie, Carl..."

The skunk turned and faced a skunk marionette and an apple core sitting in a couch. Spiff got up and sat on the down on the couch, putting his arm around the puppet and hugging her close, "The obituary is a lie, Kassie. We can enjoy our time together as a family. Just you, me, and our son Carl. We'll make this our best anniversary yet, I promise. First, we'll go to the hot springs at the Brain Freeze and stay at the Kookamunga lodge. Get up early for the bed and breakfast buffet and relax in the comfort of our room, just like we do every year."

The puppet didn't respond back, nothing but dead silence. Spiff hugged her close and nuzzled her, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "Let's get ready, okay?"

Meanwhile, Iggy and Jiggers stood outside a motor home when the beaver spoke up, "You sure this is the right place?"

Iggy shrugged, "There are many motor homes here. It could be any one of them. Zoop doesn't know exactly what his motor home looks like."

The pig knocked on the door of the motor home and about 8 seconds passed before someone opened it. Standing before the pig and beaver was an emaciated-looking male coyote. He stood about average height and was wearing a sleeveless open blue padded vest, fingerless black gloves and a raggedy olive green scarf around his neck. Chunks of fur was missing in places and other parts of fur was matted. He had yellow-gold irises and the whites of his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and crying. His long snout was streaked with visible tear tracks and the stench of musky coyote sweat just oozed from him. He was just about the saddest, most pathetic creature the pig rangers laid eyes upon.

Iggy blinked a couple times, "Is your name Scrap?"

The coyote smiled sadly at the pig through a half-lidded gaze and nodded, "Yeah...that's me. So, what are you here about?"

"We'd like to talk about Spiff." Jiggers replied, holding his nose from the canine's musky odor.

Scrap blinked a few times and nodded, "In that case, come on in. I'll tell you everything I know."

And so, Iggy and Jiggers followed Scrap into his motor home. Little did they know, they were in for quite the sob story.

Meanwhile, Spiff was bathing in the hot springs of the Brain Freeze with the skunk marionette. He took a deep breath of the hot steam as he relaxed in the warm water. By his side, sat a gold-plated heart shaped locket in the snow. He opened it up and looked at the picture of him and his wife, Kassie inside, "I'll never let you go...ever..."

The skunk closed the locket and set it down, inching closer to the puppet submerged partway in the hot springs, "So, how does it feel, Kassie? Do you like that? The natural minerals of these springs are very therapeutic. Well, that's what Zoop says anyway."

There was dead silence as Spiff put his arm around the puppet, "I know my job is hard, honey but the world is just filled with litterbugs. They won't stop no matter what. If it were up to me, litterbugs would get life in prison, especially serial litterers."

More silence. A blush formed on Spiff's cheeks as he rubbed the marionette's back, "Yeah, I love you too."

Spiff pulled the puppet into his arms and nuzzled into her chest, a few tears escaping his eyes and darkening her wooden chest, "You're the best wife I could ever ask for, Kass...I...I miss you..."

Squeezing his eyes shut against the burning sting of tears, Spiff forced a sad smile, "As long as you're still alive...promise that you'll never leave me..."

Spiff felt a single tear winding its way down his face, dripping into the water of the snowy hot springs as he held his puppet-wife close, "Kassie...you mean so much to me. I...I love you...please don't go..."


	2. Why Spiff is Spiff

**NOTE:** _This chapter is much, much darker than the last and may even shock you. I may even change the rating to M because of what happens here._

Upon entering the motor home, Iggy and Jiggers noticed that it seemed fairly dirty and cluttered. The dark blue carpet was full of half-eaten candy bars, oil-stained t-shirts lay everywhere and the leather seats were all cut up.

Scrap sighed and hung his head, "Sorry bout the mess, it's just that I don't get house guests very often."

Jiggers looked around the messy trailer, "I can see why."

The coyote plopped down on the couch and breathed a deep sigh, "So, you want to know about Spiff, huh?"

Iggy nodded vigorously, "Of course I'd love to know. Tell us everything you can about him!"

Scrap nodded and got up, "In that case, you may want to have a snack because the story I'm about to tell you is a long one. It dates back to when Spiff and I were kids." The coyote got up, walked over to the kitchen and opened the cupboard, pulling out a few cans of beans with peel-top lids. He then opened the kitchen drawer and pulled out a few spoons before walking out to the main area and setting the cans and spoons on a table.

"Why is Spiff the way he is?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah! Why does Spiff collect garbage all the time and name it and why is he always so grouchy?" Jiggers chimed in.

Scrap nodded, "All right. It all started when Spiff and I were just kids. Spiff was...different from other kids. At recess, he was the kid who sat at the far corner of the sand box, talking to discarded candy wrappers. He was very smart for his age but a lot of kids bullied and teased him because they saw him as odd. One time, a bunch of kids forced him to eat sand and he ran to the nurse's office crying. He didn't have many friends. In fact, I was pretty much his only friend in elementary school. The teachers noticed Spiff's odd behavior and the school psychologist suspected he may have some form of Asperger's Syndrome."

Jiggers blinked, "Asperger's Syndrome?"

"It's a form of autism." Scrap explained, "Awkward social skills, obsessions, usually high intelligence, slow at reading emotions, routines..."

"Sounds kind of like Spiff." Iggy nodded, "But there's got to be more to him than just that. Zoop told me that Spiff gets really sick at the sight and smell of blood and because of that, he refuses to watch most horror movies. Is that part of Asperger's Syndrome?"

Scrap shook his head, "No, it's something completely different. And the sight and smell of blood doesn't just make Spiff sick. It completely traumatizes him. He freezes up and has trouble breathing. It's really scary."

"I know I'm not too fond of blood myself but why would Spiff freeze up like that?" Jiggers asked, his tail slapping the couch in anticipation.

The coyote lowered his muzzle and sighed, "That's cause Spiff has PTSD."

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?" Iggy gasped, "What happened?"

Scrap breathed a deep sigh, "Well...it all started about 10 years ago. Spiff was having car problems so he asked me to fix his car. Since we were friends and all, I was more than happy to do it for free. But that day, I was half-asleep. The workshop was out of coffee beans and I was up all night working on another car. I tried the best I could to fix his car but I was so tired, I hard trouble concentrating..." Tears were now glimmering at the edges of Scrap's eyes.

"But you still went through with the job?" Jiggers raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

Scrap blinked rapidly and sniffled deeply, "Yeah...I did. It was the stupidest thing I've ever done. When Spiff came, I told him that his car was ready and he and his pregnant wife, Kassie got in. About an hour later, I recieved a call...they got in an accident. The transmission went out while they were on the freeway and they got hit. Spiff...was unscathed...his wife and child weren't...so lucky..."

Iggy sat neat to the tearful coyote and put his arm around him, "I'm sorry..."

Scrap choked back a sob, "When I got to the hospital, Spiff was screaming for his wife and son. I listened to the doctors talking to him and he was covered with the blood of his pregnant wife. I can only guess...he held her in his arms as she died..." A hot tear escaped Scrap's right eye and trickled down his muzzle as his ears drooped, "When he found out his wife passed away...he started crying really hard. I went in to comfort him but...he just yelled at me and told me he never wanted to see my face again...And so...So I went to the parking lot and...I cried...it was all my fault...his pregnant wife was..."

Scrap was now weeping softly, a river of his salty tears rolling down his long muzzle and collecting at the tip of his nose and the rims of his nostrils. A large tear dipped off Scrap's nose and splattered on the coffee table. Iggy was now rubbing the coyote's back and hugging him close, not even caring about the mange and body odor, "You sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah...I think so." Scrap whimpered as he knuckled a few stray tears from the bridge of his muzzle with a gloved paw. The coyote took an oil-stained rag out of the pocket of his vest and blew his nose on it.

Jiggers just crossed his arms and glared at Scrap, "Look, I know this is gonna sound harsh and you probably don't wanna hear this but uh...you gotta GET OVER IT!"

"What do you mean?" The coyote sniffled, rubbing his eyes.

"Look around you, you're living in your own squalor and filth and this all happened 10 years ago. You just need to accept the fact that accidents happen and move on with life. If you want my opinion, you need to either clean this place up or seek mental help because I could sense mold growing in the environment just setting foot into this place." Jiggers replied coldly.

Iggy sighed and looked around the motor home, "Jiggers does have a point, Scrap. This place could use some cleaning up."

Scrap sighed and hung his head, his large ears wilting again, "All right...I guess so."

"By the way, speaking of garbage, do you have any idea why Spiff names his garbage?" Iggy asked the coyote.

Scrap sighed and nodded, "Spiff used to name his garbage before the accident, just common names like Bob and John but ever since the accident, he's started naming garbage after potential children he wanted to have with his wife. Plus, he's become more attached to his garbage."

Iggy nodded, "I remember he named in apple core Carl once."

Scrap's ears drooped again, "Kassie was pregnant with a boy and they were planning on naming him Carl."

There was a long, dead silence and another tear crawled down Scrap's face. The coyote sniffed quietly and rubbed his nose. Iggy felt a chill run down his spine, "Wow...I never knew Spiff would hide a secret like this..."

"Just when ya think you know someone..." Scrap sighed, looking downcast.

The pig walked up to the coyote and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Let's all clean this place up. Jiggers is right, you need to find closure for this. We all do."

And so, the pig, beaver and coyote started cleaning out the grungy motor home.

Meanwhile, Spiff sat at a bus stop in the Brain Freeze with the marionette by his side. Even in the scorching heat of July, the snow continued to blanket that particular area of the Kookamunga. He put his arm around the puppet and closed his eyes and for a split second, he could swear he felt the warmth of Kassie's body pressed against his. Forcing a smile, the skunk drew a deep and shaky breath, "Sometimes, Kass...when I go to sleep. I dream of you and we're holding each other and laughing. It feels so real, so warm, so happy. But then I wake up and I stare at the empty space on our bed. Reality sets it. The joy is gone, the love is dead. Kind of like a dying rose..."

Tears glistened in the skunk's eyes as he hugged the puppet tight, "Kass...never leave me again. You're too important..."

Spiff paused and sniffled deeply, gulping back a wave of saline tears as he started petting his own big bushy tail in hopes of comforting himself.

The silence was broken by a loud car horn piercing the air and a red corvette zoomed up to the bus stop. A lynx stepped out of the car, dressed in a white tank top, jean pants, sunglasses and boots. The feline smirked as he took a sip of his soda, "Still talkin' to your trash, ya freak? I think your wife is lonely, she could use a friend like this here cup."

The lynx chucked the styrofoam cup at Spiff's head and the skunk growled. He remembered that lynx. Ever since he was a little skunk, he was always bullied by him. Punched, kicked, forced to eat sand, got litter thrown at his head, humiliated and even shoved in a locker a few times.

"Why don't you just grow the hell up and leave me alone, Orville?" Spiff hissed angrily at the big cat, "The last thing I need is you screwing up my annual day off."

"Me, grow up? You need to stop talking to candy wrappers and open up to people, you autistic retard. Maybe YOU'RE the one who should act your age." Orville shot back, smirking.

Spiff's mood went from sadness to rage as musky skunk spray began building up within him, "Don't. Push. Me. Orville."

Orville walked back to his car and pulled a styrofoam container full of Chinese food, walked up to the skunk and smashed it on his head, bursting out laughing, "Or WHAT? Are you gonna cry like you always did when we were kids?"

"I"M WARNING YOU!" Spiff shouted threateningly, his tail now standing on end as noodles and broccoli slid down his face.

Suddenly, the lynx grabbed the marionette and yanked her, "What a raggedy old piece of trash. Looks like the two of you were made for each other. Say, I know a way to make her look even better!" Orville pulled a switchblade out of the pocket of his jeans and slit the puppet's throat, throwing her to the ground.

Spiff's pupils shrank to tiny dots as he watched Orville with horror as he stripped the puppet's clothes off, acting as is he was going to rape the doll. The skunk's eye twitched and in a split second, his face went into a stone cold death-glare. Orville opened his mouth to speak but before he could get even a single word of, Spiff lept on him and grabbed him by his throat. The skunk pulled a short stick out of his pocket and pressed a button on the stick, extending it into a long trash picker with a sharp point.

The next thing Orville knew, he was hit with a smelly green mist and he could feel a sharp object being stabbed into him repeatedly. The lynx tried to block his face with his arms but adrenaline coursed through Spiff's veins as he continued to stab the struggling big cat. The entire struggle took 10 minutes and when the skunk mist cleared, Spiff stared in horror at the sight before him.

There, in the snow lay the lifeless body of Orville in a massive pool of blood. Spiff took a look at his brand new high-tech trash picker and noticed it was completely covered in blood. In shock, the skunk dropped the weapon to the ground, fell to his knees and started gagging. It wasn't long before vomit spewed forth, mingling with the blood in the snow. Spiff had not stabbed Orville once or twice but a total of 54 times. Coughing, the trash-collecting skunk wrapped his tail around himself for comfort and began to hyperventilate. About 10- seconds passed and Spiff began to feel lightheaded. The skunk's vision went completely black as he collapsed at the bloody scene, a single tear escaping his eye and freezing in his cheekfur.


	3. Broken

**NOTE:** _You should probably break out the tissues on this chapter..._

The skunk opened his eyes and was greeted by a flash of blinding light. Spiff blinked rapidly, his vision slowly adjusting to his surroundings. It was then he noticed that he was on a hospital bed and instead of wearing his uniform, he was dressed in a periwinkle blue hospital gown. He breathed a deep sigh and rubbed his eyes, wondering why he was there.

Spiff pressed a button to the left of him, "Nurse...I need a nurse."

Meanwhile, the air felt tense in the waiting room as Iggy, Jiggers, Zoop and Kira sat and waited for Spiff. Zoop paced anxiously back and forth and Jiggers was crying with tears trickling down his muzzle as Kira held him close. Iggy stared at the floor in stunned silence. A female weasel that was a nurse soon entered the lobby and spoke up, "Your friend Spiff is going to be just fine, physically. Emotionally, he's very scared and confused but that's common in victims with PTSD. He just fainted. He hasn't lost any blood himself, though but he was found covered in Orville's blood."

"I...I can't believe...he would do such a thing..." Jiggers sobbed, causing Kira to hug him even tighter.

Kira was at a loss for words regarding the situation but decided to speak up, "I know it's hard, Jiggers but we need to be there for Spiff, okay?"

Zoop turned to the nurse, her own blue eyes filling up with tears, "Please, let me see him."

The weasel breathed a deep sigh and nodded, "All right, just make sure to be gentle with him. Emotionally, he's very fragile at the moment."

Zoop followed the weasel down the hall and they reached the fourth door on the left. The nurse opened the door and Zoop was greeted to the sight of a skunk clad in a hospital gown softly petting his tail with a downcast look on his face. The chipmunk knew that whenever Spiff petted his own tail, he was either trying to soothe himself or fight back tears. Zoop slowly made her way up to him and sat on the bed next to him. There was a long silence before Spiff spoke up, "So tell me, what are you doing here? I just killed a man, you know."

Choking back the tears, Zoop placed her paw over Spiff's, squeezing it, "I know...and I'm worried about you. Spiff...what you did...someone can only take so much before they snap. Your aura-"

"Don't try and pull any of that weird new age stuff on me, Zoop. You know I think it's ridiculous. Look, I killed a guy and got his blood on my uniform. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get locked away for a good long time whether its a prison or a nuthouse." Spiff interrupted in an annoyed tone.

Zoop sighed and hung her head, "Maybe...somehow you could reduce your sentence?"

"So, what do you want me to do, bake a cake and bribe the mounties with it?" Spiff said sarcastically, crossing his arms, "I took a life, Zoop. He was a scumbag but now he's dead and his blood is on my hands."

There was a long silence and Zoop was now sobbing quietly, tears streaming down her face as Spiff took a deep breath, "Know why I married Kassie on July 7th?"

"Why?" Zoop sniffled, wiping the tears from her face.

"July is the 7th month of the year. Kass and I decided to marry on that day for our luck. I was such an idiot back then for even believing in luck." The skunk hung his head, feeling a lump in his throat and his eyes sting a little.

Zoop slowly and carefully placed her paw on Spiff's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Spiff. I didn't-"

"When I found that puppet she looked very raggedy, so I helped fix her up and made her look like Kassie." Spiff interrupted, "I wanted to recreate our sweet memories together."

Zoop sighed, "So that's why you don't talk with others much, you're afraid that if you get close to someone, you might lose them."

The skunk didn't reply, Zoop pretty much hit the nail on the head. Spiff whimpered softly, salty tears rolling down his face as he hugged his tail close to his chest. Zoop watched the tears roll down Spiff's face and it wasn't long before she threw her arms around him and enveloped him in a tight hug.

Zoop held the tearful skunk, her own tears wetting her soft face. About 10 minutes passed and the two stopped crying. Spiff spoke up, "I hope you enjoyed that hug, because there's a good chance you won't be seeing me for a while."

The chipmunk forced a smile as she thumbed a teardrop from Spiff's cheek, "Didn't all that crying feel cleansing?"

"Tears won't bring Kassie back. Or Carl. Or even Orville for that matter. What happened has happened. It's stupid to think a bunch of useless salt water can bring back the dead." Spiff grumbled, crossing his arms.

Zoop heaved a deep sigh. She thought about giving Spiff some spiritual advice but found herself completely speechless. She knew Spiff was right and there was no,point in arguing over it. What happened happened and the skunk was going to face the consequences of his actions. After hearing about Spiff's past from Iggy, the chipmunk wanted to just hug poor Spiff and never let go. That would be easier said than done.

A tall, intimidating bear in a mountie uniform entered the room and placed a large paw on Spiff's shoulder, "Say goodbye to your friends, Spiff. You're being discharged."

Spiff hung his head, a tear dripping off his nose and hitting the marble floor of the hospital, "Okay..."

And so, the bear led the hospital gown-clad skunk down the hall and into the lobby. Spiff frowned as he was greeted by the shocked faces of Iggy, Jiggers and Kira. Iggy got up out of his chair and threw his arms around Spiff, hugging him, "The Kookamunga and Mooseknuckle just won't be the same without you."

Spiff sighed, "Oh well, at least I had a good run. I'll find a way to clean up the park somehow, even if I'm behind bars."

Iggy pulled a gold toothpick out of his pocket, "Here, Spiff. You can have Ozwald."

Spiff blinked, "Your lucky toothpick?"

Iggy nodded, "After what happened, you deserve to have him more than I do."

Blinking back a new wave of tears, Spiff choked out, "I'll make sure to take good care of him. Thanks, Iggy."

Jiggers got up, his muzzle slick with bitter tears. The beaver slowly waddled up to the skunk and pulled him into a hug, sniffling a bit, "I...m...m-m-made a p-p-p-present that I s-saved for your b-b-birthday...but since you're g-g-going a-away...y-y-you can have it sooner."

Jiggers reached into his pocket and pulled out a miniature garbage can that he crafted out of wood. Upon noticing it, Spiff hugged the tearful beaver back, "Thanks, Jiggers. I'll miss you, too."

Jiggers sat back down gingerly, rubbing his eyes and Kira stood up and gave Spiff a hearty handshake, "I know we haven't talked much but whatever happens to you, I wish you the best of luck."

Spiff smiled back and accepted Kira's handshake, "I'm sorry my time spent at the park had to end of such a sour note."

Kira nodded, "Like the others said, it was great having you at the park. I remember that one time you saved those baby ducks from those soda can rings. If it weren't for you, they wouldn't have lived to migrate."

Spiff chuckled a bit, "Let's just say that whoever tossed that was lucky I didn't see them."

Kira sighed and hung her head, "Wherever you go, I hope you don't forget us."

"Don't worry, Kira. I'll always remember each and every one of you..." Spiff replied, giving the rat a warm hug.

Zoop walked up and handed Spiff what appeared to be a charm of some sort. It was shaped like a star, "Here, Spiff. This is for your emotional health. It's lavendar-scented and helps increase self-esteem and promotes relaxation. Considering everythings that's happened, you'll need this. It's imbued with cosmic healing powers."

"Thanks...Zoop...I'll miss you." The skunk was about to exit the door when he turned and looked at all of his friends. Their faces were all stained with tears. Particularly, Zoop and Jiggers cried the hardest. He took a deep breath, "One more thing. I need someone to cover my job writing articles for the Kookamunga Scoop."

Jiggers raised a paw, "I'll do it. I'm pretty good at writing short stories."

"Thanks, Jiggers." Spiff sighed before being handcuffed and led away to the mountie car. As he sat in the backseat, memories of all the good times he shared with his friends began to play through his mind like a bunch of home movies. He began to sob a little as he remembered the way he learned the way of the skunk, being handcuffed to Iggy, arguing with Zoop, singing opera in the shower and all the missions he went on with the gang. It all seemed like yesterday as it flashed through his mind. At this point, Spiff completely broke down, tears running down his face like waterfalls as a series of whimpers escaped his throat. He had not lost one but two families, first his wife and son and now his "family" at Mooseknuckle. The song "Broken" by Lifehouse started playing in the background as the skunk once again used his soft tail to wipe the tears from his face.

_I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing_

_With a broken heart that's still beating_

_In the pain, there is healing_

_In your name I find meaning_

_So I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on_

_I'm barely holdin' on to you_

Iggy, Jiggers, Zoop and Kira all stood in front of the hospital, sadly watching as the patrol car drove off into the night. Iggy breathed a deep sigh, "We'll miss you, Spiff. We'll all miss you..."

**NOTE:** _I'm planning on doing an epilogue chapter after this one so this isn't the end._


End file.
